the ecoustics podcast

the ecoustics podcast

Passionate about music, movies, HiFi audio, headphones and home theater, eCoustics has been covering the A/V industry since 1999. Join our diverse cast of journalists, audiophiles, industry experts and special guests for always spirited, sometimes controversial discussions about the latest news, happenings and trends in the audio, video and music industries. Whether you're listening through stereo loudspeakers with a vintage tube amp, rocking a multi-channel home theater, on-the-go with wireless speakers or headphones, streaming music or spinning vinyl, the experienced team at ecoustics breaks down what you need to know to really enjoy music and movies at home and on the road. https://www.ecoustics.com

Episodes

Denon vs. Marantz: Battle of the AVRs – Which One is Worth Your Cash?

October 29, 2025 • 37 mins
Confused by the Denon vs. Marantz AVR maze? Join eCoustics Founder Brian Mitchell, Editor at Large Chris Boylan, and Phil Jones, Global Director of Training at Harman International, as they break down 19 AVRs ranging from $400 to $7,200. Though Denon and Marantz have been under the same corporate roof for over a decade (now Harman International, owned by Samsung), not all AVRs are created equal.

Discover the subtle—and not-so-subtle...
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From Dweeb to Rock Star: How Hi-Fi Earplugs Like Etymotic’s Music Pro Elite Took Over Concerts

October 6, 2025 • 40 mins
Back in the 80s and 90s, earplugs at a concert were a one-way ticket to dweeb status. Protecting your hearing? Please. You might as well have stayed home with a VHS and some Tang. These days it’s the opposite—walk into any venue and half the crowd is rocking hi-fi earplugs that make the music sound better and keep your ears intact.

Etymotic’s new Music Pro Elite are at the front of that shift, and Tim Monroe, Sr. Director of Enginee...
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Bowers & Wilkins 801 at Abbey Road Studios: Celebrating 45 Years of Iconic Sound with Andy Kerr

September 26, 2025 • 50 mins
The Bowers & Wilkins 801 isn’t just another loudspeaker—it’s the one Abbey Road Studios trusted when the music actually mattered. For 45 years, the 801 has been part of legendary recordings that shaped how we hear music, and now it’s back in the spotlight with the 801 Abbey Road Limited Edition. Andy Kerr, Director of Marketing and Communications at Bowers & Wilkins, joins eCoustics CEO and Founder, Brian Mitchell to dig in...
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Best A/V Gear of CEDIA Expo 2025 with Special Guest John Sciacca

September 16, 2025 • 66 mins
A/V industry expert and custom integrator John Sciacca joins the eCoustics team to break down our top picks from CEDIA Expo 2025, held September 3–6. The annual trade show covers everything from home theater and soundbars to architectural speakers and outdoor A/V systems—gear designed for the pros who install and recommend solutions for luxury homes and yachts. We’ll highlight this year’s “Best in Show” winners across multiple cate...
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Buckingham Nicks Finally Gets a Reissue: The Rhino in the Room Exposed with Kevin Gray

September 5, 2025 • 54 mins
The Rhino in the room can’t be ignored: after decades in the vault, Buckingham Nicks is finally getting a reissue. eCoustics Editors Eric Pye, Jeremy Sikora, and producer Mitch Anderson team up with mastering engineer Kevin Gray (Cohearent Audio) to dig into why this cult classic vanished, why it’s back now, and what it means for fans who’ve been chasing scratched LPs for years. Along the way, we get into the bigger picture—the sta...
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Best in Show at Audio Advice Live 2025: Awesome Audio, Home Theater and More

August 21, 2025 • 74 mins
The eCoustics team discusses their "Best In Show" picks from Audio Advice Live 2025 -- the largest home theater show open to consumers. With over 1,700 attendees and more than 60 experience rooms featuring hifi and home cinema systems from $5,000 to over $250,000, it was a virtual Disneyland for audiophiles, videophiles and home theatre aficionados.

View a list of all award winners here:
https://www.ecoustics.com/articles/best-audio-...
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2025 TV Shootout Results Analyzed With YouTuber B The Installer

August 1, 2025 • 60 mins
Our friend and popular YouTube tech reviewer, B The Installer, joins us on the podcast to discuss the results of the 2025 TV Shootout, where the top-of-the-line 65-inch 4K OLED TVs all went head to head. The four models in the competition included the LG G5, Panasonic Z95B, Samsung S95F, and Sony Bravia 8 II.

Find out how it all went down with B The Installer who was in attendance, along with eCoustics Editor-at-Large, Chris Boylan,...
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Best Wireless Headphones and Earbuds of 2025 (so far)

July 5, 2025 • 56 mins
In this episode, William Jennings, our Senior Headphones and Portables Editor, dives deep into the wireless headphone and earbud game. He'll name-drop his top picks for 2025 and share his thoughts on where this market is headed.

The good news? Bluetooth and noise cancellation are finally living up to their promises, and the sound gap between wired and wireless is closing fast—especially in the high-end stuff. Whether you're stuck on...
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eCoustics Podcast #100 - a Look Back at 4 years of HiFi and Home Theater

June 20, 2025 • 66 mins
The eCoustics podcast has made it to our 100th episode! Let's rewind and check in with our top contributors and editors to recap the highlights - and lowlights? - in the HiFi and home theater industry over these past four years.

Huge thank you to all of our subscribers, listeners, collaborators, friends, and sponsors for helping to keep us going!

Special thank you to SVS & Q Acoustics for being such longstanding supporters of our...
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Qobuz Connect is Here: This Hi-Res Music Evangelist Tells Us Why It Matters

May 15, 2025 • 57 mins
Qobuz, the leading audiophile-quality music streaming service, just got even better with the introduction of Qobuz Connect. Now subscribers can play their favorite lossless and high resolution audio tracks and albums directly from the cloud to their playback gear of choice, bypassing the phone, PC or tablet for elevated performance, improved functionality and even better sound quality.

We chat with Qobuz VP of business development a...
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Best TVs of 2025 (So Far) With Caleb Denison

May 5, 2025 • 67 mins
Caleb Denison, formerly of Digital Trends, joins eCoustics Editor at Large, Chris Boylan and eCoustics Founder, Brian Mitchell to discuss the best 2025 televisions. In addition, Caleb shares his thoughts on the state of the 2025 TV market and the latest flagship TVs from Sony, Samsung, LG, Panasonic, TCL and Hisense, along with buying advice when shopping for a new OLED or Mini LED TV this year.

Caleb also discusses the launch of hi...
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Shure at 100: Untold Stories From the Audio Vault

April 25, 2025 • 116 mins
On April 25, 2025 Shure celebrates the company's 100th Anniversary, and we take a deep dive into the company's 100 year history with resident historian, and nearly longest tenured employee (since 1976), Michael Pettersen. Michael recounts the various jobs he held, company milestones, as well as his time that intersected with its founder, Sidney N. Shure.

For more information on Shure please visit their website at https://www.shure.c...
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Surprisingly Simple Home Theater & HIFI Advice with Nick Brown of SVS

April 1, 2025 • 60 mins
In the episode Nick Brown, SVS VP of Marketing speaks with eCoustics Podcast Producer, Mitch Anderson about various ways to get the best sound from your home audio setup. Whether you’re buying your first hi-fi or approaching your endgame system, Nick offers up some surprising tips on subwoofer placement, system building, and even room acoustics. Before you spend another dime on audio gear, you’ll want to hear where this conversatio...
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Hot Audio Video Trends in 2025, Featuring Channa D, TechnoDad on YouTube

February 19, 2025 • 60 mins
Hot on the heels of CES and NAMM, we asked YouTube's TechnoDad himself, Channa De Silva to chat with us about the cool audio/video gear and technology we've seen at the shows and will be coming to consumers this year. Topics include Dolby Atmos in cars, Google's new Eclipsa immersive audio format, new TV tech from Samsung, Hisense. LG, and TCL and so much more.

More information can be found on TechnoDad via his YouTube Channel: 
http...
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Can Dolby Atmos Sound Better Over Headphones? Hyunkook Lee of APL says, "YES!"

February 5, 2025 • 45 mins
While Apple Music, TIDAL and Amazon Music are all pushing spatial audio and immersive sound as the next big thing, the current reality is that, to get the best, most immersive effect, you need speakers: lots and lots of speakers. Of course, you *can* listen to immersive sound formats like Dolby Atmos and DTS:X on headphones, but the current processes to render a multi-channel recording into a 2-channel binaural signal, suitable for...
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Biggest Surprises From CES 2025: The Good And The Bad

January 22, 2025 • 45 mins
In our second podcast devoted to new products and technologies unveiled in Las Vegas at CES 2025, the eCoustics team discusses what you’ll want to be on the lookout for and what you may want to avoid. This wide ranging discussion addresses Eclipsa Audio, HDR10+ and new advancements in TVs and projectors, along with some surprises you won’t want to miss.

Panel:
Brian Mitchell, eCoustics Founder & CEO (Host)

Chris Boylan, Editor at ...
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Best in Show from CES 2025: The Audio/Video Gear that Impressed Us

January 15, 2025 • 68 mins
In amongst the AI and robots that invaded this year's CES, we found some cool and innovative audio/video gear and technology. Check out our 21 picks for "Best in Show."

Find all of our in depth coverage of CES 2025 here: 

https://www.ecoustics.com/articles/best-ces-2025/

https://www.youtube.com/ecoustics

Thank you to our sponsors SVS & Q Acoustics! For more information on these stellar brands, please click the links below: 

https://...
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Gryphon Audio Embodies Nordic Noir with Global Sales Director Rune Skov

December 20, 2024 • 54 mins
In this episode, we welcome back Rune Skov, Gryphon Audio’s Sales Director for his second appearance on the podcast. Rune discusses some of Gryphon’s new products and the secrets to creating an ultra-luxe high-end audio brand.

Panel:
Rune Skov, Gryphon Audio Global Sales Director
Mitch Anderson, Host & eCoustics Podcast Producer
Brian Mitchell, eCoustics Founder & CEO

Previous Podcasts about Gryphon Audio:
https://www.ecoustics.c...
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Inside the 2024 UST Projector Showdown: Reference vs. Preference

December 6, 2024 • 45 mins
The results are in for the 2024 UST Projector Showdown, and while some UST projectors shone brightly (quite literally), other strong performers didn't fare as well as expected. Event host Brian Gluck, emcee Phil Jones and judge Chris Boylan discuss the details of how the contenders were selected, what went down in the showdown and why the picture settings were what they were at the event.

See the scorecards and full results here:
htt...
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Blue Note’s Tone Poet Society Subscriptions Are Making Us Feel Kind of Blue

November 20, 2024 • 32 mins
There were several exciting jazz record announcements last week, with the most anticipated being the 2025 Blue Note Tone Poet release schedule. Not expected was the simultaneous reveal of a new subscription service dubbed the Tone Poet Society. In this episode of the eCoustics podcast, Mitch Anderson and Eric Pye break down the different service features and tiers, the pros and cons of the Society, and share both their own and soci...
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